Sewing machine



y F, H. oGDEN 2,298,836

SEWING MACHINE Filed June' s, (1959 ji! 4 J Patented Oct. 13, 1942 UNITED STATES.` PATENT OFFICE.

SEWING MACHINE Floyd H. Ogden, Arlington, Mass., assignor to Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company, New` York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application .lune 5, 1939, Serial No. 277,363

Claims.

This invention relates to sewing machines, and more especially to high speed commercial machines of the lock stitch type. With the present high. speed machines of this type, stopping of the. machine and then starting it again in a single length of stitching can be readily detected, the rst few stitches after stopping until the machine is stitching at full speed being commonly imperfect. Apparently this is due largely, at least, to the inertia of the machine parts and insufficient eo-ntrol of the thread which does not permit the parts to completely function during the rapid acceleration after starting.

The present inventiony therefore, has for an object to` mount and drive certain parts so that the machine runs perfectly at any speed up to maximum and even when being rapidly accelerv ated or decelerated.

A further object is to provide a sewing machine in. which the work may be fed in any direction relative to the stitching mechanism, backward or sidewise as well as forwardly.

To these ends the shuttle is so mounted and driven that the needle thread is passed therearound without undue obstruction regardless of speed conditions.

In; accordance with this` present invention the shuttle is driven from its periphery instead of from the back as has heretofore been usual practice and the bobbin is supported on a small diameter pin so that its friction arm is made relatively short.

For the additional control vof the thread an auxiliary positive take-up is preferably but not necessarily employed so arrangedV that there is always sufficient needle thread available but without undue slackness at any time.

For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation of a sewing machine embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the same to a larger scale, certain parts being broken away.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one form of shuttle.

Figure 4 is a perspective View of a driving member for the shuttle of Figure 3.

Figures 5 and 6 are views similar to Figures 3 and 4, respectively, but showing a modification.

Figures 'l and 8 are detail sections on lines 11 and 88, respectively, of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

the sewing machine is provided with the usual bed I', a post 2 upstanding from the rear portion of the bed, a sewing arm 3 extending forwardly from the top of the post 2 and a sewing head 4 carried at the forward end of the sewing arm. At 5 is indicated the main drive shaft of the .through the meshing miter gears I4 to drive the looper shaft I5, and herein shown at a two to one ratio to the main shaft 5.

As shown best in Figure 8, the shaft I5 carries at its forward end a wheel I6 which drives the shuttle Il, the periphery of the shuttle and the wheel I6 being in engagement with each other.v

The shuttleI itself is not mounted in a raceway, but instead is supported by the drive wheel I6 and a pair of idlers IB and |8a, Each of these idlers may be provided with a rim It! supported in ballbearings 2B from a central hub 2| which may be mounted on a suitable stub shaft.

The idler I8 is supported on a stub shaft 22 on which is journaled an arm 23 and the outerV end portion of the arm 23 carries the shaft 25.

on which the idler la is mounted. The arm 23 may be resiliently urged in a direction to retain the shuttle between the wheel I6 and these idlers, and for this purpose it may be provided with an extension 26 which may be engaged by la spring 2l. The opposite end of the spring 21 engages an adjustable abutment 28. which may be formed as a screw 29 threaded through an ear 30 on a casing member 3| which encloses the driving wheel I6, the shuttle I1 and the idlers I8 and |8a, and which is fixed to the under face of the bed I. In order to retain the shuttle Il in position one or both of the idlers I8, Ia may have margina1 flanges 33 which may engage opposite sides of a peripheral rim 34 on the shuttle, and in order to insure synchronous motion between the shuttle I1 and the driving wheel I6, their mating peripheries may be formed complemental. For example, as shown in Figures 3, 4 and 8, the shuttle may have peripheral holes 4l) therethrough and the driving wheel I6 may have peripheral projections 4| engaging in these holes. Also to reduce the noise of the machine, the outer face of the drive wheel I6 may be surfaced with leather or other suitable material as at 42. In

Figures 5 and 6 the shuttle is shown as provided with recesses 40a with which mesh teeth 4|a of the driving wheel Ilia.

The bobbin case 45 may be provided with the usual bobbin cover 46 and the bobbin may be journaled on the small diameter post 41 coaxial with the shuttle, the bobbin case having a finger 48 which may be engaged loosely in a notch 49 in a retaining element 50 to hold the bobbin against rotation with the shuttle in the well known manner. By reason of the small diameter of the spindle which carries the bobbin, the effective lever arm for friction to act between the bobbin and the shuttle is small, thus to reduce the pressure exerted between the linger 49 and the retainer 50 so that the needle thread may readily pass between the two during operation of the machine. The loop of thread passed about the bobbin is not twisted, so that the feed may be backward or sidewise as well as forward.

It will thus be seen that the shuttle is driven from its periphery instead of from its back as is usual, and since the loop of needle thread is well within the slot 5l of the shuttle where it is in engagement with the driver I6, the needle thread is quite free to move around the bobbin and inertia of the parts when being accelerated or decelerated has minimum eTect to retard the free passage of the thread loop around the bobbin. The periphery of the shuttle is continuous for continuous engagement with the driving wheel, the slot 5| being arranged at an angle to the shuttle axis, not interfering with this continuous engagement.

The use of the idlers I8 and |8a avoids the necessity for a raceway to hold the shuttle, though, if desired, a raceway may be used instead of the idlers and yet retain the peripheral shuttle drive from the driving wheel I6 or I 6a.

The thread is preferably but not necessarily further controlled by means of a suitable main take-up 68 and a suitable auxiliary take-up l0 in such a manner that there is always sufficient thread to be drawn upon when required by the shuttle, as is generally indicated in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing description of certain embodiments of this invention, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various other modifications and changes might be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention as deined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a sewing machine, a shuttle, a driving wheel for said shuttle arranged with its periphery in engagement with the periphery of said shuttle, an idler journaled on a xed pivot and .engageable with the periphery of said shuttle angularly spaced from the engagement between said wheel and shuttle, a pivoted arm, a second idler journaled on said arm, means yieldingly acting on said arm to press said second idler against the periphery of said shuttle, and means for driving said driving wheel.

2. In a sewing machine, a shuttle, at least three Wheels arranged about the axis of said shuttle so that the axes of the wheels are disposed about the axis of the shuttle at less than degrees from one another and with the peripheries of the wheels in contact with the periphery of said shuttle for supporting said shuttle in a substantially vertical plane, said shuttle and certain of said wheels having complementary parts for holding said shuttle against axial motion, said shuttle and one of said wheels having interengaging parts for insuring synchronous turning thereof, means for turning said one wheel, and resilient means normally urging at least one of said wheels against the shuttle and yielding for withdrawal of the shuttle.

3. In a sewing machine, a rotatable shuttle, rotatable members engageable with the periphery of said shuttle for wholly supporting said shuttle, at least one of said rotatable members being a driving member, resilient means normally urging at least one of said rotatable members against the periphery of the shuttle and yielding for withdrawal of the shuttle, means for actuating said driving member, a bobbin case coaxial with said shuttle, a bobbin in said bobbin case and journaled on a shaft coaxial with said shuttle, and means for holding said bobbin case against rotation with said shuttle.

4. In a sewing machine, the combination of a rotatable shuttle, only one driver wheel, at least two idler wheels, said driver and idler Wheels being arranged around the periphery of the shuttle so that the axes of the wheels are disposed about the axis of the shuttle at less than 180 degrees from one another to completely support the shuttle in a substantially vertical plane, and nonmetallic sound-absorbing facing on the driver wheel in continuous bearing surface engagev ment with the shuttle.

5. In a support for a rotary shuttle in a sewing machine, the combination of at least three rotatable wheels arranged around the periphery of the shuttle so that the aXes of the wheels are disposed about the axis of the shuttle at less than 180 degrees from one another, means for driving at least one of the wheels, and means adapted to resiliently urge at least one of the wheels against the periphery of the rotary shuttle and to yieldingly recede for replacement of the shuttle.

FLOYD H. OGDEN. 

